Darwin and atheism (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, November 08, 2012, 05:26 (4400 days ago)

This is the quote by Jacque Barzun that nails down the concept atheists hve of Darwin:-"In his book Darwin, Marx, Wagner: Critique of a Heritage, Barzun was audacious enough to subject Darwin to a withering barrage of criticism, despite Darwin's heroic status among scientists and academics. Barzun believed in biological evolution. However, he perceptively explained that Darwin's distinctive contribution to European thought was not evolution, which many others had believed before him. No, more importantly Darwin formulated "a theory which explains evolution by natural selection from accidental variations. The entire phrase and not merely the words Natural Selection is important, for the denial of purpose in the universe is carried in the second half of the formula -- accidental variation. This denial of purpose is Darwin's distinctive contention." (2nd ed., pp. 10-11)-http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/11/appreciating_hi065951.html